


The Croatian Embassy

by Emilie_786



Series: Beginnings [1]
Category: Salvation (TV)
Genre: F/M, Pre-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:42:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26909077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emilie_786/pseuds/Emilie_786
Summary: Darius and Grace met before the series began, at the Croatian Embassy. In the first episode, she was surprised he remembered meeting her. But Darius has a photographic memory, and to him, Grace was memorable.
Relationships: Darius Tanz & Lazlo Simms, Grace Barrows/Darius Tanz
Series: Beginnings [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1963414
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	The Croatian Embassy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lilyplujambah](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilyplujambah/gifts).



> Thanks, mom, for the beta! If there are errors left it's probably because I didn't listen to her...
> 
> I really wanted to include pics of the two landmarks in the story, which are the St. Jerome statue in front of the Croatian Embassy in Washington D.C. and the D.C. War Memorial, but I'm not very good at sorting out copyright restrictions and I don't have any of my own pictures, so if you (like me) have never been to those places, I suggest a quick look at google images.

“St. Jerome had some sexist ideas about women. He may have even delayed the feminist movement,” a male voice declared.

“For his time, his idea that celibacy should be a celebrated trait among women just as it was among men was, I think, a significant step toward equality between the sexes,” a woman replied.

“You think women should be celibate?” 

Darius could hear the speaker’s eyebrows raise even though he could not see the man. He wanted to step in and save the woman (who he also could not see) from the conversation. The man she was talking to not only wasn’t listening to her, Darius doubted he actually knew anything about the life or writings of the priest whose statue they stood behind.

The woman took a step back. Darius froze, his champagne halfway to his mouth, as he took in her profile. At first he thought her hair was blonde, then the light caught it and it was definitely red. Her skin was creamy, offset perfectly by the deep blue silk dress she wore. Darius still couldn’t see her face, but he could tell by the way she carried herself she was not fresh out of college. Darius only caught part of her response:

“…that the most fulfilling part of life for a woman or man is being a parent. Excuse me.” 

And she walked away. Unfortunately she was walking further away from Darius as well as the shallow conversationalist. 

Darius had taken three steps to follow her when a small group of people blocked his path. He had to stop trying to see the woman in blue over the tops of their heads when the man who had stepped in front of him addressed him. Darius immediately knew he was stuck. This man was a potential investor in Salvation— _not Salvation, The Mars Project_ , he repeated in his head. 

The investor introduced his wife, who Darius was pleased to meet, and the wife introduced their daughter—pretty girl, maybe 24 or 25 at the most. Darius started to say he was pleased to meet the daughter when he caught the significant looks on both her parent’s faces. _Seriously?_ _They expected him to be interested in their daughter, who was almost young enough to be his own daughter! Was he supposed to marry her to secure her father’s investment?_ Darius felt like he had just stepped back in time 200 years. He wondered how the young woman felt about it. She had to realize what her parents were up to. She looked nervous. Darius tried to talk to her for a few minutes but she seemed to become more nervous as time went on and he decided, as a gentleman, he should relieve her of her misery by moving on. He had probably just lost one of his biggest potential investors, but what could he have done?

Darius went up the steps to the Embassy door and turned to scan the small crowd on the driveway. _No blue silk._ He went inside. 

The early July evening was perfect, outside. Inside, the room full of people was stuffy. The large chandelier contributed to the slightly claustrophobic feeling urging Darius back outside. He took a deep breath, a small drink, and began his way through the crowd. At least the background music was soothing. 

The crowd shifted, and he saw her. _Finally!_ And he could see her face now. She was beautiful. And familiar. As Darius began trying to remember how he recognized her, he took in the man standing next to her with his hand possessively on her elbow. _Harris Edwards._

Everything fit together at once in Darius’s mind. _She was the Department of Defense press secretary. Harris Edwards was therefore her boss. And they were involved._ Aside from Harris touching her, which had lasted only a second, the way the pair moved, each reacting to the other’s movements in such a natural, habitual way indicated an intimate relationship. 

Darius halted his progress across the room. He had thought better of Harris. Darius would never become involved with an employee. It was unethical and not permitted at Tanz industries. _Who would do that to a woman? Or to anyone they cared about for that matter. How selfish. Harris was better than that_. Darius had half a mind to go tell him just that. But then he looked at Grace again. _Grace Barrows._ Her name was the last piece of information his brain supplied. Any more would require speaking with the woman herself, which was exactly what Darius determined to do. Harris was not an obstacle. Their relationship could not be public therefore Darius did not have to acknowledge it. He took four steps in their direction. 

“…welcome our guest speaker, successful entrepreneur and inventor in his own right, Darius Tanz.”

Darius closed his eyes for a moment, mentally shifting gears. He changed his trajectory, heading for the microphone.

“Nikola Tesla was an inspiration…”

Darius was determined not to look for Grace as he spoke. He mentally checked off everything he had planned to say, including how true scientist/inventors didn’t need to sleep, and were permitted to be a bit eccentric. The truth was, Darius was a bit more grounded than Tesla had been. At least he thought he was. He hoped he was.

Darius finished his speech and allowed himself one look in her direction as he left the podium. He stepped down and began to slowly work his way toward her as the piano soloist was announced. Once the music began, Darius knew he would have to halt his progress again, which happened all too soon. He couldn’t even see Grace and Harris from where he stood.

Darius tried to appreciate the music. It should not have taken any effort as the soloist was talented and the piece beautiful. Tonight, however, Darius was preoccupied with a different type of beauty. _What was happening to him?_ Darius had never been this focused on a woman before. Well, not in the past 14 years anyway. And what he overheard her say about being a parent should have stopped any thoughts in her direction. But it didn’t. It actually made her more attractive to Darius. _What was happening to him!_ The music crescendoed and Darius determined to forget about Grace Barrows. The music slowed softly to its conclusion. Darius turned and looked around as soon as the applause ended. _There was Harris. Where was she?_ Darius began to walk aimlessly still looking toward the part of the room where he had seen her last. Someone bumped his right arm, or rather he bumped them, and he reached out instinctively when he saw her slightly off balance. The look on her face made him drop his hands quickly. It was Grace. And he hadn’t been watching where he was going. For a moment, he couldn’t find any words. Grace raised her eyebrows a millimeter. _How alluring._

Darius’s brain finally caught up with the situation and provided him with what he hoped were appropriate words. “Pardon me, Grace—Grace Barrows. I’m Darius Tanz.” Darius extended his hand and when Grace put her hand in his, instead of shaking her hand he raised it to his lips and placed a very light kiss on the back of her hand. His gaze never left her beautiful blue eyes. Darius saw her draw in a sharp breath, then she focused on something behind him and her eyes widened. She withdrew her hand quickly.

“Excuse me,” Grace said and hurried away. Darius was still for a moment. He had a pretty good idea what he would see if he turned around, so he walked out the door instead. 

It was a beautiful night, not too humid yet, so Darius rolled the windows down as he and Lazlo drove back to the helipad. They choose the wrong street and ended up backtracking due to an accident. Darius was so lost in thought he hardly noticed.

They ended up taking 17th to Independence Avenue. Lazlo wasn’t the best navigator which was part of the reason Darius rode shotgun. The main reason was Darius thought of Lazlo as a friend first, a business partner second, and not an employee at all. Lazlo insisted on accompanying Darius on this type of excursion, insisting he enjoyed it. Darius enjoyed it too. Laz was a comfortable companion, just not a good navigator. Darius chuckled as he heard the navigation device, “In 500 feet turn right onto Independence Avenue.” Navigation systems were marginally accurate at best but Darius didn’t feel like navigating tonight. He was preoccupied, just not in the way he supposed Laz assumed. 

There was a mist rising off the Potomac that night. Darius looked out his window as they passed the Lincoln Memorial. The mist gave it an ethereal appearance and the Ash Woods looked surreal with the mist filling the gaps between the trees. Then the trees parted momentarily and the image Darius saw was imprinted on his photographic memory in a way he doubted he would ever forget. 

Under the war memorial rotunda, a woman stood with her back to him. She wore a dark colored dress that seemed black but where the light reflected it was blue. The woman’s hair was light in color with just a hint of red shining in the light as she looked up at the illuminated dome above her. The dress she wore silhouetted her figure and flared just slightly before it met the ground. 

The beauty of the image struck Darius first. Then the fact that he knew the woman. “Laz, can you stop the car?” Darius asked, still mesmerized by what he had seen. 

Darius didn’t turn his head to see Laz raise his eyebrows but knew it happened. Nevertheless within a few seconds Darius was able to get out and without thinking he was running through the misty woods in his tuxedo.

When he came to the rotunda it was empty.

When Darius got back to the car he was a bit embarrassed. He decided the self assured mad scientist persona would be the best cover for his eccentric actions. He managed to assume an aloof and pensive expression to cover his disappointment.

After about two minutes of silence Darius thought he had convinced Lazlo there wasn’t anything interesting about Darius getting out of the car and running off through the foggy trees at night. Darius began to let his mind wander back to Grace when Laz interrupted him. 

“Irish women are trouble.”

Darius was stunned. Laz was good, he had to admit (only to himself of course). Darius wasn’t sure what to say. Finally he settled on “All women are trouble, Laz.”

The next week Darius watched every D.O.D. press conference. He learned that Grace was intelligent and adept at navigating the reporters’ questions. She presented the facts in a diplomatic yet pragmatic way. Darius’s admiration grew. Naturally Darius remembered every word Grace had said that night at the Croatian Embassy. _Why did her comment about parenthood not have the effect comments about marriage or children usually had on him?_ Darius realized something within him had shifted. Although he was still committed to remaining a childless bachelor for the rest of his life, however long that might be, Darius realized a significant part of him no longer wanted that life. In fact, although he had felt it necessary, if Darius was honest with himself he had never wanted to forego the love of a committed relationship or a family of his own. On Friday as he watched the press conference a series of images flashed through his mind.

**Grace stepping off the elevator into the treehouse.** 

**Sitting on his couch with Grace and a bowl of popcorn while holding her hand.**

**Darius leaving Tanz Industries with the sun setting behind him and arriving at a small house in the woods not far from Lazlo’s cottage with Grace sitting on the porch swing waiting for him.**

**Kissing Grace.**

**Sitting on the porch swing with Grace, a baby in her arms, with his dark curly hair and Grace’s blue eyes.** 

**Dancing with Grace with grey in their hair and wrinkles creasing his face.** 

_This was absolutely too much._ Darius couldn’t think of the future that way and he knew it. He decided not to watch any more D.O.D. press conferences and not do anything to further a relationship with Grace. He allowed himself one thing: he had TESS look up her birthday so he could send some flowers anonymously. Her boyfriend wouldn’t be giving her flowers on her birthday, at least not in public. The reminder of Harris dating Grace made Darius cringe. He almost lost his resolve to stay away from her. Darius forced himself to focus on what type of flowers he wanted to send and once that was done he mentally shut the door on whatever feelings he had for Grace Barrows.


End file.
